One year later…

I am happy to report that I have lost a total of 125 pounds in the last 365 days. It has been a long road of weight loss, but it has been more than worth it. I’ve seen a lot of people over the last few days that I hadn’t seen in quite a while. It is intriguing that many of them said they would not have recognized me outside of the church context. I don’t think I look that different. Apparently, I’m wrong.

Thank you for all of your encouragement! You have all been a blessing to me on this journey. Of course, I’m not sure I could have done it without my wife. She has been very encouraging, and convicting when I have let go for a day.

Just to sum everything up, if you have weight to lose, don’t delay. You aren’t getting any younger (no matter your age) and the longer you wait, the harder it gets. Diet and exercise are key. Don’t exercise just so you can have that extra strip of bacon (I’m looking at you @mhenslee). 70% of weight loss is diet. Pay careful attention to what you eat and be diligent about it. Don’t let it slide. Studies show that the longer you remain overweight, the more you pay for it in your later years. It isn’t only a “body” payment, it cost you monitarily in health care costs.

Some stats:

Weight: 343 down to 218

Body fat: approximately 36% down to 16%

Pants: 44 down to 34/36 (depending on the cut)

Shirt: 3XL down to XL

Coat: 56 down to 46 (really a 45, but you can’t find those unless they’re custom made)

Neck: 18.5 down to 16

Now what?

Well, I don’t really plan on losing any more weight, even though I am still almost 30 pounds above the top end of my BMI range. What I am trying to do is cut about 6% more body fat. Hopefully, that will also be accompanied by an increase in muscle. I’m still lifting weights and trying to run, so I am hopeful that this change will not take too long. I am increasing to a maintenance calorie level today, and yes, I am still planning on counting calories. That number is around 2900 calories per day. Realistically, I hope to hit about 2700 with the increase (from approximately 2300 currently) being mostly protein. That would be almost an additional pound of chicken per day, so I’m going to have to get creative.

Again, thank you for all of the encouragement along the way. If I can be of any help to you, please let me know. I’d like to see the general weight trend of Americans reverse in the long run. Our diets are causing many problems for us as a group (diabetes, heart disease, etc.), and we are largely doing it to ourselves. We must turn it around. I’m here if you need help.